Attorney: Muskegon Heights school board's power restored, but not purse strings

The Muskegon Heights school board has control over academic issues since the repeal of the state's previous emergency manager law, according to the board's attorney.MLive file photo

MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, MI – Publicly-elected Muskegon Heights school board members now have more power to oversee the education of the community’s children – but there’s one “caveat”: They don’t have any spending authority.

That was the upshot of a presentation to the public school district’s board of education by its attorney Thursday. Gary Britton told board members that while voters’ defeat of Proposal 1 changed the state’s emergency manager law, nothing much changed in Muskegon Heights schools.

Britton compared the emergency financial manager’s powers under the current Public Act 72 with the powers that emergency managers had under the former Public Act 4, which voters essentially overturned Nov. 6.

The Muskegon Heights school board asked for an emergency manager under P.A. 4 after it couldn't find its way out from under a $16 million debt.

While P.A. 4 gave emergency managers control of everything in school districts they were assigned to, P.A. 72 limits that power to control of only financial matters, Britton said. In other words, the Muskegon Heights school board can’t spend a dime without the approval of the district’s emergency financial manager, Donald Weatherspoon.

School boards do have say in academic matters, but in Muskegon Heights that point is nearly moot since day-to-day education of children was turned over to a three-member charter school board of directors. That was done by Weatherspoon when P.A. 4 was still in effect and he organized the Muskegon Heights Public School Academy charter school district.

The Muskegon school board has a contract authorizing the charter school district, which is overseen by the charter board. The charter board in turn holds a contract with Mosaica Education Inc. to run the charter district.

So when audience member Mary Valentine asked school board President Trinell Scott how many teachers at the charter academy had resigned, Scott didn’t have the information. She urged Valentine to ask the question of the charter school board.

The most power the school board still holds is the power to revoke the charter contract if it’s not satisfied with the performance of the Muskegon Heights Public School Academy, Britton said.

“Yes, you still have the responsibility to pay attention … If things are going wrong, you will have a role in revoking the charter,” he said.

Weatherspoon indicated he would forward to the school board reports about academic achievement that Mosaica is required to prepare for the charter board.

Britton glossed over the potential for pending lawsuits to return to the school board all of its previous powers. He said those lawsuits, which challenge Attorney General Bill Schuette’s opinion that the state reverted to P.A. 72 when voters a little over a week ago rejected P.A. 4, are unlikely to be successful.